Letter From New York 03 05 2016 From Churchill to Yemen…

Winston Churchill used to say he was chased by the “black dog,” depression.It chased him his whole life and he ran, mostly successfully, from it his whole life. Sometimes, when the “black dog” felt particularly close, Winston would sometimes go off to Morocco and paint, drink and think and probably write.He wrote more than Dickens and Shakespeare combined.

He may well have been a manic-depressive.During the war he was followed around by his personal physician, Lord Moran, who prescribed upper and downers to manage the moods of the great man.

He was black dogged by depression and I was thinking about that last night as I rode home on the train, black dogged myself.I had gone down to the city yesterday, had a full day of appointments and when I stepped on the train last night I was exhausted and felt the old black dog nipping at my heels.

When I got home, I went to bed almost immediately and fell asleep early watching an episode of “Doc Martin,” about an English doctor only marginally more cranky than I was last night.

When the morning broke, I was my usual sunny self and, while sipping tea, worked on next week’s lectures.The day was spent on that and the Saturday chores.Young Nick was here and we did things that needed to be done, mounting a light fixture, cleaning, sorting, rearranging, bringing in wood and dealing with the trash.The things we do on Saturday.

Going down to the Dot, I welcomed Alana back from three weeks in Costa Rica and then, after an omelet and a Bloody Mary, came home to write my letter, which often is one of the most pleasurable times in the day.

Turning on the floodlights so the creek is illuminated, I sorted through the last couple of days.

The rise of Trump has been a constant cause for conversation though as I returned home, I discovered Ted Cruz had won the Kansas caucuses and he is at least as frightening to me as Trump.Both of them seem to me to be wack-a-doodles from some other dimension.This earns me no points with my conservative friends but it’s true; it’s how I feel.

Popular comedian Louis CK has implored his fans not to vote for Trump, likening him to Hitler.Trump, not necessarily looking to support Louis CK’s view of him, announced he would increase the use of torture if he were President.

“Downtown Abbey” ends tomorrow night.I have already seen the last episode as I subscribed to the feed through iTunes.Let’s tip a hat to Alistair Bruce, who was in charge of making sure it was historically accurate.He did a magnificent job.

A fire is burning in the stove; I’ve rearranged some lights in the house.I like the effect as I sit here at the dining room table, the creek lit in front of me, jazz playing and my thoughts running.

Four nuns and twelve others were killed in Yemen during an attack.Gunmen entered the building, handcuffed the victims and then shot them.It’s not yet clear who carried out the attack.The Pope has decried it; the nuns were members of the order founded by Mother Theresa.

Boko Haram, the scourge of Nigeria, is suffering from a food crisis.With all the people who have fled them, no is left to grow crops or herd animals and they are beginning to starve.Hungry and desperate, they are ruthlessly raiding which, I suspect, will only increase the cycle they have created.

And in my cycle, I am going to sign off for tonight.I need to be up in the morning, work on my lectures and then to church.I signed up to do coffee hour on Easter Sunday, not quite realizing that it was a major, major thing and I am now expected to come up with something quite spectacular.Cookbooks are out.Recipes are being reconnoitered.

I have a meeting about this tomorrow at 12:30.I think I may have over stretched and I will rise to the challenge.